Our History

In August 2020 Dean Marianne Yoshioka announced the School's five Core Principles to guide its programs and operations. Developed by a multi-constituent group of SSW resident and adjunct faculty and students, the Core Principles replaced the School's statement of commitment to anti-racism that was first authored in 1995. 

From the Daily Hampshire Gazette caption: Assembled outside the Smith College Alumnae House prior to the 42nd commencement yesterday afternoon of the Smith College School for Social Work are, left to right, Mrs. Harold D. Hodgkinson of Boston, chairman of the standing committee of the college's board of trustees for the school; Dean Doris Silbert of the college, Miss Carolyn Hiltner of Morrisville, Pa., one of the graduates, and Howard J. Parad, director of the school. Mrs. Hodgkinson awarded the diplomas and Dean Silbert gave the commencement address. The school opened its annual summer session here in June. During the winter its undergraduates work in social agencies throughout the country.  

The School held its first Supervisor's Conference, demonstrating from its earliest years a commitment to maintaining close working relationships with those who supervise students in their internships. The conference continues today as the Deepening Clinical Practice Conference.

As Associate Director, Bertha Capen Reynolds wrote a formal letter to Everett Kimball, director, laying out her reasons for why she believed Black students should be accepted to the SSW. Black students were not formally banned from the School, but Kimball felt it would be too difficult to find a placement for them.

This was not an unrealistic fear, because placing their black students in internships and residencies was something all professional schools struggled with because of the refusal of most white hospitals and law firms to admit Black doctors, nurses, and lawyers. Indeed, the vast majority of black doctors and nurses graduated from a handful of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, most of which were connected to Black hospitals.

"The young folks are eager to get scientific and psychiatrically sound approaches to the world wide problems of race adjustment which are … among the most vital and pressing of problems for practical social work to solve."

Bertha Capen Reynolds, however, refused to accept the difficulties. She explained her refusal by pointing to the transformational period she taught at Atlanta University, a Historically Black College and University in Atlanta, GA. She was also likely inspired by her growing connection to Communism. The Communist Party in the USA was one of the few large political parties actively debating how to end racism and improve the lives of African Americans.

Reynolds drafted her letter very carefully in order to appear rational and practical to Kimball, rather than arguing out of emotion that he could easily dismiss. Kimball’s work at the Smith College did not shield him from pernicious stereotypes of the day about a women’s capacity for reason.

The School earned its first accreditation from the Council on Social Work Education in 1919.

F. Scott Chapin, who took over directorship from Mary Jarrett (who became assistant director) shared the happy news of the School's permanent creation with the Smith College Alumnae Quarterly readers.

• Photo: F. Stuart Chapin, Photographer Unrecorded, School for Social Work Records, Digital Image #3972, College Archives, Smith College, Northampton, MA

Martha May, B.A. 1916, describes her internship at Fort Sheridan, IL. She became one of the fourteen graduates to go into military hospitals as "reconstruction aides."

After warning nothing might come of the plans for the summer, the very next issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly carries an evaluation of the summer session by Maida H. Solomon, 1912, B. S. Simmons 1914, a psychiatric social worker at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital.

Bertha Capen Reynolds, or BCR as she refers to herself, later becomes the most distinguished student from that first summer. A graduate of Smith College in 1908, she had suffered a physical and emotional illness before deciding to enroll in the summer experiment at her alma mater. She records her activities and thoughts in a diary while a student. She later becomes an influential administrator of the college, developing the first curriculum for what would become the Program for Advanced Studies and then Ph.D. program.

• Photo: A mock clinic with Mary Jarrett, Smith College School for Social Work, n.d. Photograph by H. Edelstein, College Archives, Digital Image #3612, Smith College, Northampton, MA

One hundred and thirty six students apply, 81 are accepted, and 67 register. They travel from 21 different states, represent 20 different colleges, and range in age from 19 to 46. Forty-three are college graduates; three have graduate degrees, including one a Ph.D. in psychology. Ten came to the course without a degree, but with practical experience that made them eligible for the course. Many had been previously employed--12 as teachers, 16 as social workers, three as librarians, and three as secretaries.

Mary Jarrett, first director of the SSW, writes later that this photo is her most favorite photo of herself. She is in the center with glasses.

• Photo: 1918 Faculty, Photographer Unrecorded, School for Social Work Records, RG 60, Box 1315, Smith College Archives, Northampton, MA.